Dress Up #8

Hello! I hope everyone had a lovely Halloween yesterday, whether it was filled with alcohol and fancy dress parties (such as mine were pre-babies) or full of screaming witches, skeletons and vampires (which mine was). We all had a great time at a relatives Halloween party, complete with fireworks, before trick or treating my Aunty and Uncle's house, as well as my mum's house. I love Halloween. Anyway, onto outfits...

1. A gift from one of my friends, and still a touch too big, a floral tunic and leggings from Next

2. Luna the rock chick;) In an Oh Baby London Mexican romper, H&M organic top and Slugs & Snails organic Ahoy tights from itsy bits. I love this romper, it has little Mexican death masks, Mariachi men and guitars all over it.

3. First of the Halloween outfits! In a Mamas and Papas Skeleton romper which was also Eoin's.

4. My little witch in another Mamas and Papas outfit, complete with a fluffy skirt and itsy bits frilly pants.

Quite a lot of black this week!

And to finish...I found a picture of Eoin wearing the skeleton romper from 3 years ago. Look at those chubby cheeks!

6 Month Update

My baby was 6 months old on Saturday.  As I always say...where has the time gone?? This month we've seen a massive stride in milestones and developments - it's truely amazing to watch.

We're getting through one last pack of the size 2 nappies before moving onto size 3. Rather guiltily I haven't had her weighted for over a month and a half so have no idea of her weight/what size nappies seem appropriate. It amazes me how relaxed I've been this time round regarding this. With Eoin, who had weight issues from birth, I was getting him weighed every other week. But with Luna...not so much. I just really don't have the time with 2 little people to look after!

Luna's still in a lot 3-6 months clothes (with a few 0-3 from Next still floating about!), but I've had a big sort out the last week or so and moved some 6-9 clothes into her wardrobe. I haven't tried any of them on her yet, but I'm determined she'll get a decent wear out of them.

The biggest development we've seen this month is that Luna has finally mastered the art of sitting up by herself! For a few days last week she was sitting up briefly on the sofa then falling to the side, but since then she's easily grasped how to sit up for a good while. It's great because she can now sit with Eoin on the floor and watch him play (and eye up the Lego!).

It's so lovely to see the relationship develop between E and L. Genuine love. It was Eoin's parent evening at school this week, and the teacher even mentioned how much he loves Luna. Whenever she sees him on a morning her face lights up. He's the only one who can make her laugh and giggle for more than 2 seconds (she has a habit of laughing once and then stopping). She follows him with her eyes around the room. And all Eoin wants to do is give her hugs. It's just...lovely.

Other developments include introducing new flavours. Now she's 6 months, I'm hoping Luna can start enjoying food a bit more. Banana is still a firm favourite, but she also likes (of what we've tried) apples, plums and (as a special treat yesterday) Heinz chocolate pudding. She wolfed that down, haha. She's also had a good suck on various biscuits! She doesn't like carrots or butternut squash.

Big steps this month! And there's only one way to go now...crawling!!

Dress Up #7

Yes, another week went by without a post.... Oops. In my defence, I went away to Manchester with the eldest (and Chester Zoo), and didn't get much chance last week to take photos. Anyway, this week has been fun filled with the last week of the school term, and lots of baby milestones (another post coming about that later...) So, onto the clothes...

1. M&S day in orange cord dress with orange spot bodysuit and stripy tights.

2. Yey frilly pants! From itsy-bits.co.uk, Maxomorra flamingo bodysuit from Juicytots and eBay tights.

3. First of the Slugs and Snails tights (Funguy) with H&M spotty dress and organic long sleeve top.

4. Next floral dress and footless leggings - I think these are on here every week, but I love this.

5. Deja vu? Another Next dress and footless leggings. Moustache blanket - Primark ;)

6. Slugs & Snails Day 2 with Owl Tights and a vintage smock top (it was mine!)

7. That M&S cord dress again, this time with Storm Slugs & Snails tights. E is in Maxomorra bats from Little Sunflowers

8. Todays outfit - Slugs & Snails Day 4 Hudson boat tights, H&M organic bodysuit and Next denim dress

PHEW - that was long! I'll try not to leave it as long next week.

Silent Sunday #6

Dress Up #6

I think I can safely say it's Autumn now:( Depressing! This week we've been trying out some new organic clothes for Luna as her eczema has started to flair up. It's not as bad as her brother's, but I'd like and try and stop it before it gets worse. We've also got some great Slugs and Snails tights from itsy-bits.co.uk so expect to see them cropping up a lot in the coming weeks, seeing as the weather has got so cold!

1. Lovely Slugs and Snails Hudson boat tights. I need to get some better outfits together with them, but it's so hard trying to style them because they're awesome. The top is a Little Bird from Mothercare top (age 2-3!) which I got in the sale
2. Next braces dress and matching tights
3. New favourite outfit Next floral tunic and footless tights with a bow boutique bow
4. TKMaxx dress and leggings
5. Maxomorra Geisha bodysuit, Tesco tights and Next Denim dress
6. Pirate Luna! Itsy Bits black frilles, Slugs and Snails Ahoy tights, H&M frilly white top.

If anyone has any good ideas of how they dress up their Slugs tights, or Maxomorra prints I'd love to see! I love the prints so much, but find it hard to think of what to put them with!

5 Months Update

So Luna turned 5 months on the 26th September. Where has the time gone?! Luna's still in size 2 nappies, but most of the 0-3 clothes don't fit anymore (plus they're all summery!) so we're firmly in the 3-6 month camp now. Next are the acception, because their sizing is huge.

Since last month we've got out the jumperoo. Eoin, my eldest, loved this and we kept it just on the off chance we'd have another. At first Luna wasn't very good at bouncing, but now she's quite the little rocker and will happily bounce around for about 15 minutes before getting bored. Haha.

I suppose one of the major changes this month has been that we've started giving Luna the occasional bit of food. Rusks and bananas are firm favourites (banana custard this morning went down a treat). Strawberries and raspberries she wasn't so keen on. I'll probably start trying her on more vegetables this month, to try and get ready for the big weaning experience! I'm a firm believer in baby led weaning, but I also think purees are great for introducing new flavours.

I really don't know where this year has gone too. It's flown by!

Silent Sunday #5

Dress Up #5

It's been a while, sorry! I'm really bad at staying on top of things at the moment. I've been volunteering at work (a hospital) helping out with the 3rd year medical students so it's been a bit busy busy. Anyway, these are a few outfits Luna has worn the last week or so. Now we're firmly into Autumn I've dug out the tights and long sleeves...

Tesco leopard spot dress and H&M tights // red spotty H&M dress and white top, M&S frilly bum tights // H&M plum top, Next sparkly grey leggings (the ungirliest outfit ever) // Next pink spot cord dress and bodysuit // Next denim dress, H&M organic body suit and amazing Slugs and Snails tights from itsy bits // Massive leopard print pramsuit from Tesco

I definitely still have a thing for leopard print and polka dots!

Dress Up #4

H&M red dot top and M&S knickers // cheeky monkey in M&S purple dot romper // Mamas & Papas brown dot dress // TKMaxx bubble top and leggings (these say 6-12 months on the label!! No way would they fit a 6 month old)

Wednesday Weigh-In

So how am I doing with the mountain that is baby weight loss? Well, I'm happy to say...I've lost a stone! I'm pretty happy, but obviously I've still got a long way to go. Another stone to pre-Luna weight, and then another stone for pre-Eoin weight.

This fortnight I have tried not to weigh myself too much, as it can get excessive and sometimes disheartening when you don't see that scale move. It's important to consider that a women's weight fluctuates several times over one day alone, and several factors can influence our weight in a given day - water retention, muscle building, and of course food. Indeed, over the course of a couple of days I apparently dropped 6lb...hmm. I've been taking to the myfitnessPal forums to have a read up on the subject anyway, and know I'm a bit more knowledgeable I feel a bit more in control of what I'm doing and how I'm progressing.

This week I've alsojoined a gym. Obviously, being on maternity leave means I don't have a lot of money coming in at the moment - however opening soon in my area is a xercise 4 less gym, which is £9.99 a month and includes use of all equipment and classes. It's the classes that intrigue me the most. I was intending to go swimming every couple of days (or when I can with 2 children!), but I think for the price I may give spinning a go. I like bikes. Ha. Has anyone else been to a xercise 4 less gym?

4 months today!

I can't believe Luna is already 4 months old - really, where has the time gone? One of the reasons I set this blog up (well, the only reason really) was to document her progress over the next year or so. I know from having Eoin that children change so much in the first few years, and I really don't want to miss anything.

This month I have started to see some big changes to Luna's character - she's started to reach out for things, and she loves grasping her muslin cloths and putting them in her mouth! She's also started to really enjoy her jungle mat, before I would put her on it and she would cry and cry. Now, she's actually watching the lights and loves kicking her legs. Quite often you put her in one position on the mat, and 5 minutes later she's done a 180. Haha.

She's still in size 2 nappies and her 0-3 months clothes. Just! However, the 3-6 month sleepsuits absolutely swamp her. People always comment on how small she is still (she gets called 'Dolly' quite a lot), but her legs are huge. Proper chubby baby legs. Eoin was a skinny tiny baby and never had baby fat (he still doesn't, he has sparrow legs), so having a proper chubby baby is great.

Her hair has also started to grow! She's got quite a lot at the back, but none at the front at all. We still haven't worked out what colouring she's going to have. I think she'll be darker than her blue eyed, blonde brother though. Her eyes are also getting paler, and slightly greyer.

I hate how quickly this first year goes!

Silent Sunday #4

Dress Up #3

More outfits from this week. I do really need to take more pictures. We've had a busy week (sort of), with Luna getting her final set of injections on Wednesday, leading to a couple of restless nights. I think she's teething, and going through a growth spurt, as some of her 0-3 month clothes are getting a bit tight. Also today we put up her cot - which means no more moses basket (sob), and the move into her big girl bed!

M&S Pinafore // Next frilly tutu sleepsuit // Mama and Papas dotty sleepsuit // Next balloon romper (again!)

What's In My Changing Bag?

I know this is quite a common feature on blogs, but I'm really nosy and like looking at what's inside other people's bags. If only to help stem the fear that my bag is not in fact the only bottomless pit of toys/baby wipes and miscellaneous rubbish.

My bag is a 3 year old Pink Lining Yummy Mummy bag. I got it when I was pregnant with baby no. 1, and I think the main appeal was the lovely thick changing mat that came with it. I still haven't found a changing bag since that has a padded mat with it, plus I love the pattern (cupcakes!). I think at the time this bag was part of Pink Lining's 'Winter' collection, and although no longer available, you can get very similar bags here.They're of a lovely quality, and come with some great little features such as 4 insulated bottle pockets, and a dummy attachment so dummies won't get lost at the bottom of the bag. It also has a button fastening on the two shorter handles so you can attach it to your pram handle.

So...what exactly is in my bag? Well...here's a picture...

Lots and lots of rubbish. Ha.

Ok, so actually I have most things that a mum has;

• padded changing mat
• baby wipes and nappies
• nappy bags
• mini pot of sudocream
• anti-bac gel
• bibs (Luna is especially drool-ey at the moment, I think she's teething early)
• spare change of clothes (for emergency sick/bum accidents)
• hat
• purse
• suncream (doubt I'll need this now summer is over!)
• red book for dr's appointments, injections, weigh ins.

I also have random toys and receipts. If we're going somewhere far away, or for a long period of time I'll also have a few bottles in the side pockets as well as dummies, toys for baby no. 1, Sophie the Giraffe etc.

God, I'm so sad but I do genuinely love my changing bag. It's seen me through two babies with ease, and I'm contemplating using it even after it's redundant. Ha. What's in your changing bag? Am I missin anything you'd class as essential?

Silent Sunday #3

Dress Up #2

Another few from this week, I keep forgetting to take pictures - oops.

H&M Butterfly dress // Next Denim Dress // Next Balloon romper (one of my favourites) // H&M red dot top and Sarah Louise frilly knickers (from Luna's christening!)

Luna's Wardrobe

We live in a rather small house, and every inch of space has to be utilised to its best ability or toy/clothes/children end up everywhere. One of my pet hates is disorganisation. I hate not know where everything is (maybe it's just the control freak in me) and one of my favourite areas of the house is the boiler cupboard. Weird, I know, but I've actually turned it into a mini wardrobe for Luna.

Before using it for its current purpose, the cupboard was being used to house bed linen and my partner's clothes. It was messy, cluttered and generally giving me a headache every time I opened the door. In contrast, Luna's clothes were hanging in a very shakey looking 'pop up' wardrobe which was leaning so dangerously I didn't dare touch it.

Obviously being a boiler cupboard, I couldn't cram a million clothes into it without creating a fire risk. So, in order to keep air flow, and avoid putting anything directly on the boiler, I bought a cheap extendable curtain pole from eBay. It's spring loaded, meaning no drilling required - but also it cannot take a lot of weight. Perfect for Luna's clothes. The rail only holds the clothes she can currently fit into, which are hung with cheap and cheerful hangers from Amazon. All her 'big girl' clothes are in my wardrobe. However, this arrangement makes it so much easier to see what clothes she has, meaning I don't mis-lay things. Because I'm sad I also colour-coordinated the clothes and paired them with frilly knickers etc on the hangers.

To utilise the space underneath the rail, I got an in-wardrobe shoe tidy from Argos (£12.99, available here). Because of the door frame, the other half had to cut a small section out of the front so it would fit, but otherwise it's perfect and creates a lot more storage space.

The top shelf houses a wicker basket with Luna's current sleepsuits and vests, which is on top of a pink Soap & Glory bag full of her 'bigger' sleepsuits and vests. To the right is another wicker basket which has her moses basket fitted sheets and blankets in.

On the middle shelf I have Luna's frilly knickers, socks and tights in a small case, her gro-bags which, because of the weather, are currently too warm to wear, and her hair accessories (some of which are from The Bow Boutique) in another small case.

The bottom shelf houses her very small shoe collection (I'm sure that'll change as she gets bigger!) and more gro-bags. At the moment her memory box is also here, mainly because it's a perfect fit and there's nowhere else for it. The shelves obviously aren't very big, but at the moment they're just right for all her fiddly little things.

The back of the door holds her pram suit and jackets. As you can see, I have tried to really utilise every inch of the space available without imposing too much on the boiler itself. Nice and tidy and organised. Does anyone else feel happy when everything is tidy and in its own space?

Silent Sunday #2

Dress Up #1

Is it really sad I've been looking forward to posting this all week? Ha. Anyway, these are some of Luna's outfits from the last couple of days.

Bargain Next sale sailboat dress £2.50! / Mamas & Papas Spot Bow Romper / M&S Purple Spot Romper
Navy Spot Two Set from Next / Luna with Spencer bear / Today's outfit: Next pink broderie romper

I guess I have a thing for polka dots!

Wednesday Weightloss 101

I'm a new mum, and I also have a 3 year old son. I think like most women I can safely say that I've put on weight over the last 4 years. In fact, I would roughly say it's been a stone a year. Not good. I remember the good old days before I had children when I use to go for a run every other day (I even did the Manchester 10k) and have a perfect flat stomach. Not anymore.

Granted I'd rather have my saggy belly, stretch marks and my two children than without (although I even have stretch marks on the backs of my knees - HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?!) but I would love to try and regain a small part of the old me.

I've never dieted in my life. At 5ft 8, and pretty active I never needed to. I would eat a lot of rubbish (hello chocolate my old friend), and I think the only vegetable I would ever eat was broccoli. However, I've been trying to east more healthily and in the past 3 weeks I've lost 7lb, and can finally fit back into all my old clothes. Just from not eating chocolate.

I'm hoping that by maybe incorporating a few more vegetables and a few less carbs I can keep this up and maybe get back to my pre-Eoin weight of 11 stone (which is pretty spot on for my height). I've been avidly using the Myfitnesspal app on my iPad to keep track of my general food intake (where I realised I was eating waaaay too much pasta/rice/chips), and so far it seems to be working.

I'd love to here from other people like myself who are trying to lose the baby weight, and maybe find some tips to help me stay on track. It's going to be a long slog, but I'd love to here from others, and hopefully I keep updating with my progress!

Review: Mamas and Papas Classic Baby Carrier

With my first child, Eoin, I never considered a baby carrier - he was quite happy to be pushed everywhere in his pram or play on his mat and was pretty content. However, Luna is definitely a clingy baby. By clingy, I mean put her down and she screams. Put her in a bouncy chair, she screams. As you can image this meant I was getting nothing done around the house unless she was asleep (which is never), or struggling with one arm while the other was wrapped around a baby.

I'd heard from a few people that the best thing for a clingy baby would be a baby carrier - it meant Luna could still be close to me but I could also be hands free to do things around the house - a win-win situation. I shopped around before settling on a classic black carrier from Mamas and Papas, mainly because I've bought things from there before and I know the quality is pretty good. Although not cheap (this retails at £62 on their website), I thought at least if I gave it a go and if she didn't like it I could return in.

The first thing I noticed when I got this out the box was how complicated it looked. The carrier itself comes in two parts - a 'backpack' style harness, which obviously goes on your back, and the section which holds baby which clips onto the harness. Sounds complicated, however the instructions were really easy and after a few gos I could get this on and off no bother.

The only thing I struggle with is fastening the side clips onto the harness where her legs are. Luna's not blessed with the smallest of legs, and sometimes I feel like I'm squeezing them in order to clip the carrier on. However, that said she never complains. The only other thing I would say is that although this says it's suitable from birth I really wouldn't recommend it until baby can hold her head up by herself. When walking, Luna's head would bobble all over the place at first - meaning I had to hold it, and completely undermining the point of having a carrier.

Luna loves this carrier, and it's honestly a pleasure to carry her in. Granted after a while my back starts to hurt (but then carrying anything around on your front or back for an hour would), but it's a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be. It's also great to have in the car in case the other half forgets the pram (or more likely goes to work with the pram in the car) so I can still get out and about. Plus having the option to put her forward or backwards facing is great (especially with a nosey baby).

You can buy the same carrier here for £62.

Silent Sunday

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